New things are afoot over at Etsy right now–first off, they have a new About page for shops that lets you see a little bit behind-the-scenes of what goes on to make the items offered (and helps you make sure you’re not buying something you think is handmade that’s really cranked out by a sweatshop full of six-year-olds in Taiwan). There aren’t a lot of them up yet, since the option to build one just became available recently, but I would encourage anyone shopping to check out the About page of the shops they’re perusing. All of the ones I’ve seen have been really interesting. If you’re curious, here’s the one for my shop, House of Whimsy (which features Hellpuppy Kora, of course).
In other news, Etsy is hosting a Christmas in July Sale that many stores are participating in–search cij or christmasinjuly tags (or just Christmas in July) to find some great deals. It officially runs until 7/22, but a lot of shops seem to be extending their sale items until the end of the month.
This week, we have some quite excellent selections, starting with this bright and cheery plush Scarab Beetle sculpture from weirdbuglady (aka Brigette). Need an amoeba or a planarian to cuddle up with? She’s got you covered. When she isn’t creating new plush creepy-crawlies, she’s working on her PhD in entomology, which would explain why you can search organisms in her shop by Phylum. Nice.
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Next up is a piece from Naz Forge, and amidst all of the great dragon door knockers and functionally beautiful housewares offered in this shop, the dice caught my eye because how amazing would it be to show up for a game night with your own hand-forged iron dice? Pretty awesome indeed (they come in different sizes, and you can personalize the sides if you want to roll to see who has to do the dishes). Claude is a self-taught blacksmith who makes all of his beautiful pieces by hand with his hammer and 100-year-old anvil on a coal forge.
Finally this week is an amazing leather Cthulhu mask from Edenbee. What kind of horrors could you wreak wearing this to a masquerade ball? Griffin and bird masks are available as well, and Eden also offers a choice of hand-painted colors; each mask is custom-made to order. They also have original art (Eden is a comic book artist as well)–I really like the ravens.
